Don't Set Goals. Do This Instead.

Or... there will be dragons.

Are you tired of chasing goals that leave you feeling empty? It’s time to rethink what success truly means.

Once upon a time, in an office space far, far away lived a disillusioned young lady chasing corporate success who believed in SMART goals, and that Harvard Research study that claimed people who had goals made more money (except, it wasn’t Harvard; it was Yale, and wait... did such a study even exist?)

I dutifully tracked my goals in my Palm Pilot (yes, those did exist), and like the Type A go-getter I was, I powered straight toward that fixed, immovable destination without bending, breaking, or looking at what was around me.

I had some success in the corporate world. I got awards and bonuses. I convinced myself that I was killing it. Okay, so a handsome sales guy with a confident stride and a glint of ambition in his eye got promoted to a business analyst position that should have been mine. And, okay, I had to train said handsome sales guy to do the job that should have been mine. But I didn’t mind so much because my unbudging (even if unconsidered) goal was still in sight. Someday, I would be a corporate executive and make a mega-colossal salary, so I would never have to worry about paying my bills again.

This goal was SMART.

It was specific. I wanted to reach the E-Band level (it’s all about the salary).

It was measurable; the levels were fixed.

It was achievable. Okay, there weren’t many women at that level, but I’d seen a few in their power suits up there in the clouds.

It was relevant. I loved my work as a business analyst. It fed my creative soul but with a better than a creative paycheck.

And it was time-bound. I would hit this goal before I reached forty.

Reasonable, right?

Wrong.

I never made E-Band level. I quit while I was at C-Band level. Why? Because I discovered goals aren’t the answer. Goals are like finish lines; they signal a stopping point.

I was constantly powering toward that stopping point (ignoring everything around me, including opportunities and adventures that could have changed my life), screeching to a halt when I got there and, immediately setting up the next goal so I could race off again. That’s not much of a life, and I definitely wasn’t learning the lessons that a journey with awareness could teach me.

In stories, you’ll discover that it’s usually not the straight shot to the goal that counts. You need the winding, unpredictable (sometimes dangerous) paths to reveal the heart of adventure. A journey takes you somewhere. That somewhere may be a goal you set for yourself, it may not. That’s not the point.

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s shiny beacon was the elusive wizard, a promise tucked behind emerald curtains. But she doesn’t race to get to him. She can’t. She’s got a witch on her tail (haven’t we all at some point?) and some travel companions that, while lovely, are really slowing her down. The goal is essential to the story, without it the yellow brick road wouldn’t exist for her to follow, but the story doesn’t happen when she reaches the goal. The story happens in the journey itself.

Instead of setting goals, a heroine plans transformations. Dorothy transforms from a scared little girl dismissing her surroundings to a courageous heroine who understands, “There is no place like home.”

The transformation is the goal, not the thing.

In the Heroine’s Adventure, we don’t go after goals; we embark on quests. Quests don’t have to be SMART or dutifully entered into your Palm Pilot. Quests are wide-ranging, exciting adventures. When the Wizard demands that Dorothy bring him the broom of the Wicked Witch of the West, she shes this request as nothing more than a setback, a waste of time, something to slow her down. But the truth is, without it, the cowardly lion would never has found his courage.

Heroines know that in a story, in a Heroine’s Journey, there are always dragons to tame. And why do we take the time away from our goal pursuing to tame the dragons? Because when you see a dragon, you know they are guarding a treasure.

If my corporate twenty-something self had seen a dragon while racing toward my goal, I would have side-stepped that annoying monster. I had things to do and goals to reach. I knew everything. What could he teach me?

Heroines who avoid the dragons never discover the gold.

A quest is about a transformation and the treasure you collect along the way. You may reach your goal, or you may not, but it doesn’t matter. The journey will transform you.

So, instead of documenting a goal, plan a transformation.

We can borrow a technique from the secrets of story to implement this new plan. When planning a story core, I always know the transformation I want my main characters to make. To illustrate the transformation and make it clear to my readers, I write an opening and closing image. This image should be as clear as a Polaroid snapshot. It should include visual and sensory imagery that makes you feel something.

Remember how I gave up on my corporate goal? My opening and closing images went something like this.

Opening Image: Lisa-Marie sits in a cubicle surrounded by paperwork and files. A steady buzz of chatter about her makes it difficult to concentrate because she has no door. She picks at her packed lunch of a tuna sandwich with wilted lettuce. Tuna is all she can smell. Her boss knocks soundlessly on the padded wall and clears his throat. “I need you in this meeting to explain my work.” He leaves, she sighs. She looks at the clock, willing that second hand to rotate faster.

Closing Image: Lisa-Marie is sitting at her desk in the sunroom of her home in The Bahamas, listening to the waves lap against the sea wall. She is working on developing an exciting new product and gathering feedback from some of her best customers about what they would like included. She has a fresh salad waiting for her in the fridge, but she decides to take a dip in the pool before lunch. The water is crisp and refreshing as she lies back to feel the warm sun on her face and contemplate a technical issue she’s been pondering. Her daughter will be home at three today, and she has promised they would play her Nancy Drew game after homework, so she dries off and heads inside.

Always write these images in the third person, allowing you to distance yourself and think more clearly. Read your opening and closing images daily while you’re on the quest. I went FROM being a disillusioned twenty-something TO a successful entrepreneur. I didn’t have a goal; I went on a journey. Now it’s your turn to step onto the yellow brick road!

And there will be dragons.

JOURNAL PROMPT:

What is a transformation you would like to make? Would you like to go FROM a hobbyist TO a professional writer? Would you like to go FROM being disorganized TO being a Martha Stewart replica? Would you like to go FROM a person who struggles with money TO an abundant earner? None of these journeys will be easy. There will be forests to chop through and dragons to tame, but that’s what a quest is. It never really ends, but think of all the treasure you’ll gather along the way.

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